The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major ruling Wednesday that reopens the path for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico, rejecting a lower court’s attempt to block the project.
The 6-3 decision reversed a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that had invalidated a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license for a similar facility in West Texas.
The decision also breathes new life into plans for a nearly identical site just across the state line in New Mexico’s Lea County, about 40 miles from the Texas site. The facility, spearheaded by Holtec International, would store spent nuclear fuel, material left over from nuclear reactors, temporarily.
Holtec, a Florida-based company specializing in nuclear decommissioning and fuel storage, secured a license from the NRC for its New Mexico facility near Carlsbad. The license permits operation for 40 years, with the option for a 40-year renewal.
Although the Court’s ruling is not a final endorsement of the license, it removes a significant legal obstacle that had stalled progress.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes amid a growing national backlog of spent nuclear fuel. More than 100,000 tons of the material are currently stored at nuclear plant sites across the country, some of which date back to the 1980s.
That amount increases by roughly 2,000 tons each year. The nation’s long-term plan to permanently store the material at Yucca Mountain in Nevada remains stalled due to political opposition, particularly from Nevada officials and residents.
New Mexico’s own leftist political leadership has strongly opposed the Holtec project. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was among those resisting the NRC’s licensing decisions.
The heavily Democrat-dominated New Mexico Legislature has even passed legislation aimed at blocking high-level nuclear waste storage within the state’s borders. However, this is now nullified due to the Court’s decision.
Holtec welcomed the Court’s ruling as “a significant win for the nuclear industry,” saying it confirmed the NRC’s long-held authority to issue licenses for offsite storage of spent nuclear fuel. The company emphasized that the ruling would help prevent prolonged litigation aimed at delaying the implementation of safe storage solutions.
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